Absol/RSE
Absol can only be found on Route 120 in all three games. One of the rarest Pokémon without the help of duplicates clause... and paradoxically also one of the easiest to get with it. Absol is one of a kind: Dark-type, a mostly physical glass cannon, but with basically zero physical options other than Shadow Ball and the obligatory Normal coverage. Its poor physical options are nothing short of a tear-jerker to its amazing base 130 Attack stat. On the other hand, its special movepool is quite amazing, including even Calm Mind and the elemental beams in its ranks; sadly, it cannot be backed up by anything but a decent-but-not-too-high Special Attack in turn. So what to do with Absol? Its nature might actually change the nuzlocker's play choices, and there are a few interesting options to note. With the right coverage, Absol is actually capable of taking on a good number of Pokémon in Hoenn. Important Matchups - Emerald = * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): Absol 2HKOs Swablu and 1-2HKOs Tropius with Ice Beam. Pelipper is ruined by Thunderbolt, and Skarmory is also 2HKOed by it. Ice Beam also 2HKOs Altaria easily, as its best is an Earthquake 2HKO only after at least one Dragon Dance. * Rival (Lilycove City): Tropius is easily 1-2HKOed with Ice Beam, as is Pelipper with Thunderbolt. Slugma is 1-2HKOed by Return, but can be 2HKOed with Thunderbolt too; Return also beats Ludicolo in two to three hits. Ice Beam can 2HKO Grovyle as well, but it will outspeed Absol and its Leaf Blade 3HKOs; this will not be an issue unless it scores a critical hit (recall that Leaf Blade has a high critical hit ratio). Combusken can be 2HKOed, but only with Return, and only if Absol's health is close to full, as its Double Kick cannot OHKO but does deal massive damage. Marshtomp is averagely 3HKOed by Return, but doesn't pose much of a threat. * Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Absol should be overlevelled enough to OHKO Numel with Return and Zubat with Ice Beam. Numel can be used for setups at will: Magnitude is only a 3HKO even at full power, if Absol is ten or more levels higher than it; even a single Swords Dance will power up Absol's Return against Mightyena, which is OHKOed at +1, where Absol will be if Intimidate hits it after a Swords Dance. Camerupt is still only 2HKOed, as it would be in Absol's natural state, but it also cannot 2HKO back, so Absol will still win. * Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): Deciding on a course of action is difficult in this battle. While Swords Dance may help Absol in the long run, Mightyena's Swagger and Roar can foil any setup-dependent plan; in addition, Absol's Return (nerfed by Intimidate) or special moves (such as Ice Beam) can only 3HKO on average. If Absol does manage a Swords Dance, it will get back to 2HKO range, and Return will 2HKO Crobat as well; Crobat does, however, pose further threats with its Confuse Ray, which is even deadlier to a Pokémon with boosted Attack. Keeping Absol healed is crucial in this battle. Lastly, Absol should face Camerupt only if still somehow fully healthy and at +1 or more in Attack; Earthquake is a strong 2HKO and Absol's Return can do better only if backed by setup. * Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Mightyena has no damaging moves, but should not be exploited for setups, due to both Swagger and Roar; it can be simply 3HKOed with a special move, or even Return, despite Intimidate. Golbat is 2HKOed by either Ice Beam or Thunderbolt. * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Claydol's Earthquake is the only move Absol must be wary of with the leading pair; it 2-3HKOs, but Absol can thankfully 2HKO with Shadow Ball. However, Xatu is faster than Absol, and may use Confuse Ray on it. If Absol's battle partner can prevent this, for example by using Safeguard, Absol will be able to sweep more safely. Absol's battle partner may either help Absol defeat Claydol first, and focus on Xatu next, or target Xatu while Absol takes down Claydol; Xatu's only damaging move is Psychic, to which Absol is immune, but if its partner isn't, Xatu's Calm Mind will quickly bring its damage into the danger zone. Absol is not threatened by Lunatone and Solrock, but Absol's battle partner may not like Lunatone's Calm Mind/Psychic combination, unless it's immune as stated above. If Absol's teammate is vulnerable to Psychic, Absol should take down Lunatone first, either 2HKOing with Shadow Ball or 2-3HKOing with Bite; the former is preferable for dispatching Lunatone as quickly as possible. If Absol's battle partner is also a Dark-type, instead, both Pokémon can simply focus on beating Solrock - which is 2HKOed by both Shadow Ball and Bite - first and attack Lunatone afterwards. * Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): Contributing to this fight is difficult for Absol, as a number of status moves make the outcome unpredictable and impede strategy. Absol can only reach 1-2HKO range on its foes if it uses Swords Dance once to compensate for Mightyena's Intimidate; otherwise, Return will only 3HKO both, leaving Absol vulnerable to damage and Mightyena's Swagger shenanigans. Absol should also defeat Camerupt first, if it wants to stay on the battlefield for as long as possible; Tabitha's Mightyena will cut its Attack back to +0, but Return will still be in 2HKO range against it, though it also will be less likely to 2HKO Maxie's Mightyena. Golbat is 2HKOed by Ice Beam, a move best used without any positive Attack modifiers, as Golbat knows Confuse Ray; so does Crobat, which is only 3HKOed by Ice Beam instead. Fighting against Crobat is very difficult if Golbat or Mightyena are on the other side of the battlefield; Absol should first defeat all of Tabitha's Pokémon, and then focus on Maxie's. Absol is also incapable of beating Maxie's Camerupt without dying, and should switch out against it. * Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Sharpedo is non-threatening, and can be one-shot with Thunderbolt. It is advised that Absol be switched out when Mightyena enters battle, as Intimidate cuts Return to a 3HKO and Swagger can be annoying. * Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Mightyena relies on its typical Swagger and Scary Face tactics, but can also force Absol to switch out with Roar. Unfortunately, a Swords Dance is essential to get back to 2HKO range with Return; alternatively, Absol can use Calm Mind, which grants a lower damage output, but also helps it take less confusion damage in the event Mightyena does use Swagger. Still, confusion damage after Intimidate + Swagger should not be underestimated. At +1 Attack, Absol is guaranteed to 2HKO Mightyena, whilst at +1 Special Attack Ice Beam is only a potential 2HKO; Crobat is 2HKOed after one boost in either stat, but safer to take on with Calm Mind, as it knows Confuse Ray. Sharpedo is OHKOed by Thunderbolt at +1 and likely to fall to a +1 Return, but this is not certain. * Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): Absol can set up against Luvdisc, but needs to be kept healed from Sweet Kiss or possibly Water Pulse-induced confusion. Swords Dance and Calm Mind are both workable; if setting up with Swords Dance, a +4 suffices to OHKO all of Juan's team but Kingdra with Return (+5 or higher is needed to OHKO Kingdra for certain). Calm Mind requires a full +6 to OHKO Luvdisc, Sealeo and Crawdaunt with Thunderbolt, but Whiscash and Kingdra will remain a 2HKO with Ice Beam; Absol can take an Earthquake and a Surf from them, respectively, but only one hit total, which is why Swords Dance should be preferred. * Wally (Victory Road): Absol can either Swords Dance on the first two turns and then OHKO Altaria with Return, or use Calm Mind once and OHKO with Ice Beam. In the first case, the highest amount of damage it may take is roughly half its health from a +2 Aerial Ace, so Absol will survive unless critical hits occur. At +4 in Attack, Absol's Return OHKOs all of Wally's Pokémon minus Magneton, which is 2HKOed; Absol can still OHKO it by getting to +6, however, as both Delcatty and Roselia offer some wiggle room for another Swords Dance. If going with Calm Mind, instead, at +1 Ice Beam will only 2HKO Delcatty and Roselia, but they are the least threatening of the group, and Magneton will be OHKOed by Flamethrower. An Absol that relies on Calm Mind, however, cannot fight Gardevoir, unlike its Swords Dance counterpart; only a full +6 setup, nearly impossible to achieve, would suffice to 2HKO it, and Calm Mind + Future Sight can hit Absol hard since Future Sight deals typeless damage. * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): A Swords Dance against Mightyena guarantees the Return OHKO against everything but Crawdaunt and Shiftry, which are potential OHKOs. Although an extra Swords Dance would fix that, Mightyena's Sand-Attack and Roar can easily foil Absol's setup plans; if anything, Cacturne or Shiftry should be used for the second boost. * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): One Swords Dance is enough to net the OHKO against everything on Phoebe's team with Shadow Ball. Calm Mind is not viable, as it would expose Absol to Dusclops' Curse or the Banette's status moves. * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Whether Absol uses Swords Dance or Calm Mind to set up, it needs to reach +4 in its offensive stat to OHKO all of Glacia's team with Return (Swords Dance) or a combination of Flamethrower and Thunderbolt (Calm Mind). The lead Sealeo 3-4HKOs with Ice Ball, thus neither set will have a problem setting up. Absol's health should be replenished when possible regardless, as the higher-levelled Glalie may still outspeed. Its Explosion is guaranteed to kill Absol; a Speed of 115 or higher, however, guarantees that Absol will move first, removing this risk. By contrast, Calm Mind sets will require more setup turns, but can spread them across several fights; Glalie is OHKOed after +2 is reached, and can be used for the remainder of the setup if Sealeo did not suffice. * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Shelgon is only OHKOed by Ice Beam at +1, so Calm Mind carriers should start off the fight by setting up. Return would require two Swords Dances to OHKO, leaving Absol vulnerable to too many potential Rock Tombs (Speed drops are crippling). At +1, however, Ice Beam also OHKOs all of Drake's team minus Kingdra; if Absol's Speed is not lowered, Altaria will not outspeed, though Flygon and Salamence probably will. Flygon can also 2HKO Absol with Earthquake, but Salamence only 3HKOs after a Special Defense boost; if Absol's health is still full or near-full when Flygon comes out, or Absol is healed before attacking Salamence, it will be able to take down both Pokémon. Absol struggles against Kingdra, however, and needs at least three prior Calm Minds to deal enough damage to measure up to it; its SmokeScreen and Dragon Dance, backed by Body Slam, will also endanger Absol with a stroke of bad luck. * Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): Absol cannot beat Wailord: even after a Thunderbolt, its Water Spout deals massive damage - a solid 2HKO - and unlike Water Spout, neither Blizzard nor Double-Edge lose power with Wailord's dwindling HP, remaining in the 2-3HKO range; Water Spout paired with either move can easily kill Absol. Tentacruel also outspeeds and 2HKOs. Gyarados is 2HKOed by Thunderbolt, but there is a serious risk of it using Dragon Dance and if it does, Absol will be offed by Hyper Beam on the following turn; Thunderbolt becomes a OHKO after one Calm Mind, however, if Absol manages to get one off. Ludicolo threatens it with accuracy shenanigans and Surf (which is a near-certain 2HKO); Whiscash can be 3HKOed with Return, but will 3HKO Absol with Earthquake if it uses even only one more turn to beat it. Lastly, Milotic's damage throughput is roughly twice as much as Absol's, and even Return cannot match up to its Surf. Overall, Absol is better off not fighting here. * Post-Game: Absol must be treated with velvet gloves even more so than before, as the postgame threats are scarier to it than anything before the Champion. }} Moves Absol starts off with Quick Attack, Razor Wind, Bite, and either Swords Dance if caught at level 26 or higher, or Taunt if not. Its Attack is amazing, but its defenses are not, so using Razor Wind is not advised; it should rely on Bite instead, or Strength for a physical move (Return is even better, if available). Bite is, sadly, the best Dark move it gets, as Absol does not have access to Crunch. Absol learns Double Team at level 31, too, but using it is like gambling with something as fragile as glass, and it should be avoided. At level 36, it gets Slash; it is not a great move, especially considering the absence of Super Luck in this generation, and Strength will usually outdamage it, Return even more so. Future Sight comes at 41, and once again, there are much better alternatives; lastly, Perish Song comes at 46, which can be strategic, but only if used on the first turn and followed by a timely switch-out to a sturdier teammate, as Absol is unlikely to take hits for that long. On the plus side, TMs offer a lot more to Absol than anything else. Unfortunately, as far as physical moves go, there is not much for Absol to learn, while on the special side it does much better. Its most viable physical options are... Return and Shadow Ball. That is it. There is also Aerial Ace, technically, though it will likely be useful only when accuracy matters; it still does sport a decent base power for that purpose. On the special side, Absol can learn all three elemental beams: Thunderbolt, Flamethrower and Ice Beam, as well as their more powerful alternatives, which are not recommended for accuracy reasons; Fire Blast can work in place of Flamethrower, but accuracy is generally better than power. Of all three, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt are the most likely to prove useful in the long run. Water Pulse is another option for lovers of confusion games, but is unreliable at best, as it only inflicts the status condition 20% of the time and confusion is not a sure-fire way of avoiding hits; for special sets, however, Calm Mind is a valuable option to boost Absol's otherwise decent-but-not-great Special Attack. Recommended movesets: ''Physical, setup: Swords Dance, Return, Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace'' ''Special, setup: Calm Mind, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt'' ''Mixed: Return, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt'' Recommended Teammates * Psychic-types: Bug-type moves are uncommon and not that strong in this generation, leaving Absol with virtually just one weakness, Fighting. Several of the Psychic-types available in Hoenn are perfectly capable of handling Fighting-types. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Gardevoir, Alakazam, Medicham, Grumpig, Claydol, Starmie, Xatu * Physical tanks: Absol is lacking in bulk. Covering for physical hits is also more difficult than special ones, since a number of good physical walls has a Fighting weakness. On the upside, a number of good physically defensive options are not hard to obtain. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Swampert, Swalot, Torkoal, Weezing, Sandslash, Skarmory, Whiscash, Donphan * Special tanks: Like its Defense, Absol's Special Defense leaves much to be desired. Fortunately most available Psychic-types have good-to-great Special Defense, thus making it easier to fill two of the necessary positions with just one Pokémon. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Swampert, Ludicolo, Gardevoir, Gyarados, Tentacruel, Swalot, Muk, Grumpig, Altaria, Whiscash, Claydol, Milotic Other Absol's stats * What Nature do I want? It depends on what set Absol will run: for physical sets, Adamant; for special sets, Modest; for mixed sets, anything that boosts one offensive stat and lowers one defensive stat: Lonely, Mild, Naughty and Rash. Any Speed-lowering nature is bad, as Absol is not very fast and will likely not accomplish much if it cannot outspeed. * How good is Absol in a Nuzlocke? Rather good, despite its unfortunate movepool, mostly geared towards the special side when Absol's physical Attack is its best stat by far. However, even with a mildly usable Special Attack, Absol can accomplish a lot with the right moves, and is fun and flexible to use on top of that. * Weaknesses: Bug, Fighting * Resistances: Dark, Ghost * Immunities: Psychic * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses